


stress relief

by maddy_does (favefangirl)



Series: carry on countdown 2020 [17]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Pillow & Blanket Forts, non-defined universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28013499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/favefangirl/pseuds/maddy_does
Summary: Shepard offers Penny a distraction from her essay crisis.
Relationships: Penelope Bunce/Shepard
Series: carry on countdown 2020 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026733
Kudos: 4
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2020





	stress relief

**Author's Note:**

> Carry On Countdown Day 17, DEC 11: Blanket Forts

Penny grabbed two fistfuls of her hair, pulled until it hurt, then let go with an irritated exhale. She sat up straighter in her chair, moved her hands to hover over the keyboard of her laptop, and pursed her lips. With a huff she sat back in her chair, her hands falling into her lap. This was impossible. All she had to do was write this stupid essay, but she couldn't seem to get past the opening line. Part of the problem was her distinct lack of interest in this particular field. She'd had to force herself to do the reading, and now writing it was a monumental task.

She buried her head in her hands and groaned. She flinched when she felt hands on her shoulders, and jerked her head around. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was just Shepard. He began to massage her shoulders, leaning over so that their faces were inches apart. She felt suddenly incredibly embarrassed by the blank screen they were both now staring it, so shrugged him off and sat back up to her desk.

"Go away, I'm busy," she huffed.

"Writer's block?" Shepard asked, definitively _not_ doing what she'd asked, as was his way. "You should take a break."

"I don't have time," she countered. "I need to get this written." They both stayed where they were for what could've been a minute or a millennia, staring at the screen as Penny willed an idea to pop into her head. Nothing came. "Well I can't concentrate if you're loitering," she snapped. Shepard took hold of the back of her chair and began to wheel her away from the desk. "What the hell are you doing?" She demanded, trying and failing to grab onto the edge of the desk before she was taken away.

"You need a break," Shepard explained, turning the chair, and Penny with it, towards the living room. "You're stressing yourself out and it's not going to help you write your essay." Penny continued to protest, but Shepard ignored her, wheeling her into the living room. He then spun the chair around so they were face to face, noses mere centimetres apart. "You know what helps me when I'm stressed?"

"Annoying me?" Penny quipped.

"Watching a movie," Shepard answered. "And do you know the best way to watch a movie?" Penny stared at him, unimpressed. "In a blanket fort."

"A what?" Penny asked, but Shepard was already moving into her bedroom. "Hey," she called after him, standing up and following him.

Inside the room, Shepard was gathering the heaped piles of blankets from her bed into his arms. Even with his height, he had to strain to see over the top of them. "Go grab the ones from Simon's room," he said, walking past Penny back out into the living room."

"You're mad," Penny huffed, but did as she was told, slightly intrigued. 

She went in and grabbed the blanket Simon kept on his bed, purposefully not looking around the room, scared of what she might see if she did. When she went back into the living room, Shepard had moved the chair out of the way and dumped the blankets on the floor next to it. He was dismantling the sofa as Penny added the extra blanket to the pile, and Penny watched with piqued curiosity.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he began piling the cushions next to the sofa in a vaguely quadrilateral shape. 

"Making the fort," Shepard said over his shoulder, a huge grin on his face.

"The what?" 

Shepard frowned at her. "The blanket fort?" She shook her head. "You've never built a blanket fort before? It'll be fun, promise!" He finished laying the cushions and turned on his knees. "Okay," he said, "bring over a couple of the blankets."

Again, she did as she was told, grabbing a handful of her blankets and taking them to where he was constructing the 'fort'. She watched in fascination as he began to lay them within the shape he'd made from the cushions. She passed him another, and this one was laid on top. With a third, he laid it around the side of the cushions for stability. He then took a step back and gestured quite violently at his creation, as if to say "ta da".

Penny smiled despite herself. "Okay Da Vinci, what now?"

Shepard grinned back. "Go grab your laptop. I'll get the snacks."

Penny thought she knew where this was going, so went back to grab her laptop. She pressed the 'x' on the word document she was working on, more than fed up enough of the blank page mocking her, and returned to the living room. She placed the laptop down next to the fort, and pulled up Netflix. So engrossed was she in trying to find a good film to watch that she didn't notice Shepard walk back into the room until bags of crisps began descending down on her. She looked up just as Shepard began dropping the chocolate, and even a bag of Butterkist toffee popcorn. He then went over to grab the rest of the blankets, and dumped them next to her. 

"Put Mamma Mia on," he said as he settled back into the fort, pulling the blankets with him.

With a huff, Penny did just that. she turned around once she'd chosen the film to see that he'd lifted the side of the blankets for her to crawl into. She smiled as she did, grabbing the popcorn on the way, then settled against his side. As the open credits rolled, she settled into Shepard's side when he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in closer. He pressed a kiss to her temple, and she hid her responding grin in the bag of popcorn. This didn't fix her essay crisis, but it was a far more enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. 

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe this is just my deprived childhood, but I've always considered the blanket for to be an American thing? I've never built one before but this is how I imagine they go?
> 
> anyway, if you wanna leave a comment or a kudos they're much appreciated! especially let me know if there's something you think i forgot to tag! 
> 
> i'm taking prompts! if you're interested please drop the prompt in the comments below. if you do send a prompt be prepared for me to take fifty years to fill it because _uni_ , but i promise i'll try! come say hi on tumblr: [@maddy-does](https://maddy-does.tumblr.com/)
> 
> thanks for reading, have a wonderful existence.


End file.
